First QT tank suggestions please

WIReefer · Apr 12, 2020

So I went out and bought a 20g long tank and will be using it for my QT tank it’s in a totally different room than other tanks so won’t have to worry about any cross contamination. For equipment I am running a hob filter, heater, air stone pump, 528 gph power head, cheap led light. I filled tank up with water today, 15 gallons of freshly mixed saltwater 5 gallons of water from my DT and also put a sponge in the tank that was sitting in my DT for about a month. So hopefully that will kick start the cycle! For medication I will be most likely be using copper and prazipro since in the past I’ve had a ich outbreak and fluke situation. What are your guys recommendations on treating my fish once I put them into QT(such as order for medication) Any help would be awesome guys since it’s my first time QT tank, also have a Hannah checker to check my copper levels.

Big G · Apr 12, 2020

General Cure has both Prazi and Metro: the prazi kills some of the parasites that Metro doesn't and vice versa. Because it is a powder, it doesn't have the oxybispropanol the PraziPro uses that absorbs/uses lots of O2. And it has a slightly lower dose of Praziquantel which is easier on fish and works just fine.

An Ammonia Alert Badge and Prime for treating ammonia is OK to use with Chelated Coppers like Copper Power or Coppersafe, but DO NOT USE with "ionic" coppers like Cupramine, Brightwells.

Also a good idea to have some antibiotics on hand: Kanaplex, Furan2, Metro are all good and together they make up what we call the "Trifecta" to treat really tough bacterial infections.

Add a couple of plastic aquarium plants to help lower stress for the fish.

WIReefer · Apr 12, 2020

Big G said:
General Cure has both Prazi and Metro: the prazi kills some of the parasites that Metro doesn't and vice versa. Because it is a powder, it doesn't have the oxybispropanol the PraziPro uses that absorbs/uses lots of O2. And it has a slightly lower dose of Praziquantel which is easier on fish and works just fine.

An Ammonia Alert Badge and Prime for treating ammonia is OK to use with Chelated Coppers like Copper Power or Coppersafe, but DO NOT USE with "ionic" coppers like Cupramine, Brightwells.

Also a good idea to have some antibiotics on hand: Kanaplex, Furan2, Metro are all good and together they make up what we call the "Trifecta" to treat really tough bacterial infections.

Add a couple of plastic aquarium plants to help lower stress for the fish.

Forgot to mention I will be adding a couple pvc pipes for fish to hide in! Thank you for the response where can I get those antibiotics at? Brs?

Big G · Apr 12, 2020

Alex Pete said:
Forgot to mention I will be adding a couple pvc pipes for fish to hide in! Thank you for the response where can I get those antibiotics at? Brs?

I get most of mine from Amazon and AAP

American Aquarium and Pond Products

American Aquarium of Oregon. Home for Researched Information. Newest technology aquarium, pond products. Founded in 1978, CA. From aquarium keeping guru Carl Strohmeyer. Forwarded by Devon Trigg

www.americanaquariumproducts.com

WIReefer · Apr 17, 2020

One last question y’all when I am using copper for two weeks do I do water changes during it or just keep topping the tank of with RO water?

piranhaman00 · Apr 17, 2020

Alex Pete said:
One last question y’all when I am using copper for two weeks do I do water changes during it or just keep topping the tank of with RO water?

You need to do copper for 30 days if you are only using the one QT tank. I never do water changes on QT tanks, but I use fully cycled tanks, if you used a sponge from your DT you are fully cycled. Bring the water to 2.0ppm Cu and mark the tank with tape , indicating the water level. I top off with strong salt water, this slowly raises the salinity over the course of the QT treatment as most fish come in at low salinity. If your fish come in at normal salinity then yes top will RO. Be sure not to top off too much or you risk decreasing Cu below therapeutic.

Use Copper Power, not Cupramine. Cop Pow has a much larger theraputic range so the top offs dont become life or death for this fish. If you start at 2.0 you can swing up to 2.2 or even higher and be fine. If you use cupramine at 0.5 and swing to 0.7 fish will start dieing.

As mentioned, use General Cure in place of prazi. IF you are using one QT tank, its copper at 2.0 for 30 days and then General Cure, two doses spread 5-7 days apart. 14 days of copper is when you transfer to a new sterile tank.

Having all meds on hand is very important, dont want for disease then order med.

Highly recommend Hanna for copper testing, in fact without it, its basically a guessing game.

Good luck!

EDIT: I see you have copper hanna, great start

WIReefer · Apr 17, 2020

piranhaman00 said:
You need to do copper for 30 days if you are only using the one QT tank. I never do water changes on QT tanks, but I use fully cycled tanks, if you used a sponge from your DT you are fully cycled. Bring the water to 2.0ppm Cu and mark the tank with tape , indicating the water level. I top off with strong salt water, this slowly raises the salinity over the course of the QT treatment as most fish come in at low salinity. If your fish come in at normal salinity then yes top will RO. Be sure not to top off too much or you risk decreasing Cu below therapeutic.

Use Copper Power, not Cupramine. Cop Pow has a much larger theraputic range so the top offs dont become life or death for this fish. If you start at 2.0 you can swing up to 2.2 or even higher and be fine. If you use cupramine at 0.5 and swing to 0.7 fish will start dieing.

As mentioned, use General Cure in place of prazi. IF you are using one QT tank, its copper at 2.0 for 30 days and then General Cure, two doses spread 5-7 days apart. 14 days of copper is when you transfer to a new sterile tank.

Having all meds on hand is very important, dont want for disease then order med.

Highly recommend Hanna for copper testing, in fact without it, its basically a guessing game.

Good luck!

EDIT: I see you have copper hanna, great start

So I bought these things and they came in today so I should be sitting well used 5 gallons of water from my DT and the rest of freshly mixed saltwater as you can see I used sponge from DT also I have a Hanna copper tester so that will be perfect

piranhaman00 · Apr 17, 2020

Alex Pete said:
So I bought these things and they came in today so I should be sitting well used 5 gallons of water from my DT and the rest of freshly mixed saltwater as you can see I used sponge from DT also I have a Hanna copper tester so that will be perfect

Looks good!

You are in Janesville? Im only an hour away in Baraboo!

WIReefer · Apr 17, 2020

piranhaman00 said:
Looks good!

You are in Janesville? Im only an hour away in Baraboo!

Thank you! And yup god ole janesville nice! I work in Madison

WiscoFishNut · Apr 17, 2020

Looks like you got solid advice from a fellow Wisconsonite

Hope everything goes smooth with your fish QT! If your HOB filter has one of those carbon pad inserts make sure to pull it before you start the meds.

WIReefer · Apr 17, 2020

WiscoFishNut said:
Looks like you got solid advice from a fellow Wisconsonite Hope everything goes smooth with your fish QT! If your HOB filter has one of those carbon pad inserts make sure to pull it before you start the meds.

Assuming your from Wisconsin too! And I had this laying around and won’t be running carbon I heard it absorbs the copper! I will be cutting the DT sponge into smaller squares so that it will fit in hob filter.

WIReefer · Apr 17, 2020

Also tank will be running for a week tomorrow when would you think it would be cycled?

piranhaman00 · Apr 17, 2020

Alex Pete said:
Also tank will be running for a week tomorrow when would you think it would be cycled?

Did you add any ammonia source? If you dont add ammonia it can’t cycle.

However, if you added a seeded sponge from your DT your probably safe to add fish right away.

WIReefer · Apr 17, 2020

piranhaman00 said:
Did you add any ammonia source? If you dont add ammonia it can’t cycle.

However, if you added a seeded sponge from your DT your probably safe to add fish right away.

I added a sponge from the DT that was sitting in refugium for two months.

solitude127 · Apr 17, 2020

Hanna copper check is definitely a good choice

WIReefer · Apr 17, 2020

solitude127 said:
How do you plan to measure copper once you start treating your fish? One of the biggest game changers for me when using copper was the Hanna copper checker . It takes the guess work out of looking at what shade the water is in traditional copper test kits.

I thought in the top I said I have a Hanna checker for copper so I will check that way!